Letter to American Editors, No. 2

Dear Editors:

It should concern every American, regardless of political leaning, that a jurist would write, for public consumption, that the legislature should protect a sitting president from being investigated and/or indicted because of the importance and pressures of the job. Judge Brett Kavanaugh absurdly posits that the president can be prosecuted after leaving office, or be impeached and prosecuted. Thus, given his opinion, a president can kidnap, jail and murder opponents, illegally enrich himself and his family, and commit treason without fear of an investigation or criminal indictment. Should any of these criminal acts, perpetrated by a sitting president, outrage the public or the Congress, what would be Judge Kavanaugh’s next remedy when and if the next crime the president commits is to bribe the Congress to forego his impeachment? Under Kavanaugh’s nonsensical theory, President for Life would be a conceivable possibility, right here, in the United States of America. How any serious thinker could pen such an abominable notion and even become a federal judge, much less an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, should frighten anyone who cares and loves the freedoms we still are allowed to cherish.

Calvin Hill                                                                                                                                                                          New York

Letter to American Editors, No. 1

July 16, 2018

Dear Editors:

Attorney General Sessions and the Trumpniks are out to give the false impression that their border family separation policy is the same thing that applies to American citizens by making the absurdly idiotic claim that when a citizen commits a crime they are also separated from their children. Lets be crystal clear. When a citizen commits a crime, they are charged, arraigned,  and able to contact a lawyer who can tell the suspect’s family where they are being held, what jail they can go to see them, when they are going to court, where, if necessary, their trial will be held, and what correctional facility they can visit the family member should they get convicted and receive jail time. They also have the option of bail that allows them to be with their children during any judicial adjudication. At no time is their family member shipped off to parts unknown without knowledge of the lawyer and/or family. They also have the option of having their jailed family member call them, collect, and speak with them. It should also be noted that crossing the border seeking asylum is not a crime. However, what should be a crime, is deliberately sending asylum seekers away from legally approved border crossings to illegal border crossings just so they can be arrested, deported, and have their children snatched away. But I don’t think Mr. Sessions will be going before the press, or that Donald Trump will be signing an Executive Order to announce that as a new Department of Justice policy.

Calvin Hill                                                                                                                                                                         New York

If You See Russians, “Say Nothing!”

By Calvin Hill

One of the most damaging conclusions in the independent findings of the 9/11 Commission is that our left hand did not know what our right hand was doing. There was no sharing of information of possible terrorist concerns between the CIA, the FBI and local law enforcement entities. And regardless of how this president uses the latest indictments against Russians to blame the Obama administration, or his latest lawyer/spokesmodel continues to create the fantasy that “The president did nothing wrong,” – his refusal to obey America’s anti-terrorist rallying cry is exactly what he did wrong.

Both 2016 presidential campaigns, along with the congressional leadership were warned that the Russians were inundating social media with false information to fake Facebook and Twitter pages to sow discord and influence the 2016 election. The Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, refused to join the Obama administration’s effort to inform the public in a joint announcement. Trump and his campaign were specifically instructed to notify the FBI of any and all Russian attempts to contact him, his family, or members of his campaign. After an inordinate number of emails and other correspondence between Kremlin cronies and Trump’s campaign, Donald Trump did not call the FBI. Instead of calling the FBI, Team Donald took the meetings. And that’s what he did wrong.

Jared Kushner and Jeff Sessions met with Russians at Trump Tower during the campaign. The president’s son-in-law, Kushner, son Junior, and Paul Manafort also met with Russians at Trump Tower. At a campaign national security meeting, a source claimed that the candidate seemed very interested when George Papadopoulos suggested arranging a meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin. After the election, and during the transition, Barack Obama warned the president-elect not to hire Mike Flynn, but he did it anyway. Deputy Attorney General, Sally Yates, warned the White House that Flynn was compromised by the Russians, yet he remained as Trump’s National Security Advisor. Ms. Yates was fired, allegedly for her refusal to defend the newly ordered Muslim ban. Flynn is now a confessed felon, as is former Deputy Campaign Chairman Rick Gates, as is George Papadopoulos, while the Campaign Chairman, Paul Manafort is under a string of indictments and awaiting trial(s). Just off side from the Russia investigation by the Special Counsel, but possibly germane to it, former Trump Organization and Trump personal attorney, Michael Cohen, is facing serious legal jeopardy from the Southern District of New York’s Office of the Department of Justice.

While Trump repeatedly depicts all of these legal entanglements as the suspects being “treated unfairly,” he does not gauge the irony that none of this might be happening if he had simply called the FBI. In the very real threat of global terrorism, wherein nations are imploring their citizenry that, “If you see something, say something,” a cyber terror threat was unleashed upon the United States, Donald Trump was warned about it, his campaign encountered it, and he said nothing. And having knowingly signed a letter of intent to do business with Moscow, he continued to claim “I have nothing to do with Russia.” After closing the Oval Office door to Americans as he met with the Russian Ambassador and Foreign Minister, and a report that he and Putin continue to phone chat from time to time, President Trump is on the verge of another closed door meeting with the Ukraine invader.

Now, the Trump tariffs threaten a trade war which is already proposing to wreak havoc on the job market. Businesses that are negatively affected by these tariffs are already predicting job layoffs. Gas prices have already risen 60 cents a gallon from a year ago just since pulling the United States from the Iran Nuclear Deal. And, as predicted, healthcare costs are rising substantially since discarding the individual mandate from the Affordable Care Act. Trump’s heralded North Korea Summit is turning out to be a masterful con job by Kim Jong Un against an amateur political leader. Should the Republicans continue to just sit back and watch this train wreck of a ‘dealmaker,’ whose business bankruptcies and failure to pay his debts sent thousands of Americans to the unemployment office, businesses into Chapter 11, and some of their homes into foreclosure, the devastation on the American economy and the lives it will affect will be on their heads.

We have become embroiled in a reality show version of a really bad Godfather movie wherein Donald Trump gives the impression that he is tough talking Sonny. In actuality, he is the insecure Fredo riddled with an inferiority complex. Watching him read from a Teleprompter, perusing the juvenility of his Tweets and listening to incoherent rants at his rallies, it is not difficult to imagine his fellow students laughing at him when he was made to read in front of the class. But like Fredo, he repeatedly pontificates, “I’m Smart!” after they both have miserably failed at the casino business. And after being denied entrance into the NFL and the billionaire boys clubs of America, like Fredo, he conspires with the 5 families, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, Rodrigo Duterte, and Recep Erdogan, to destroy his own American family in deference to their unlimited power and his desire to be like them. These dictators pat him on the back and tell Trump how wonderful he is and how honored they would be to work with such a great leader. And “Don Fredo” eats it up while the dictators eats his, and our, lunch.

Trump is undeterred by the American oligarchy because he has paid them off.  And, unfortunately, Trump is able to wield his limited constitutional power like an authoritarian because House Republicans, led by the jelly-spined Paul Ryan, and the Senate Republicans, led by the equally submissive Mitch McConnell, are blind to the reality that the President of the United States is merely a weak, less competent version of Fredo Corleone who has frightened the GOP into believing he’s Michael.